Queen is still doing great

Checked out the hive yesterday, and the bees are doing great.  There are larvae all over the place, and one bar was full of the syrup that I have been feeding them.  I'm going to move that bar to the end of the brood nest so they can keep building up.  I don't want the queen to run into a wall and not have anywhere to lay.  Looks like she likes the new comb!

The bees have drawn their first complete bar of comb

Well, at least from a top bar.  They were in a Langstroth temporarily after Larry caught the swarm.  When I cut down the frames so they would fit into my top bar hive, I left two empty bars between the frames, alternating the cut frames with top bars.  They really went to town on the top bar that was in the middle of the brood nest, and now they are really making progress on the other gap.

Beyond the last cut frame, I have the three bars that the package bees had started.  They aren't really looking at them at all yet.  Once the second gap is filled, I might swap these into the middle of the nest so that they keep filling these out.  With me feeding them all the time, I don't want them to get the idea that they need to swarm.  I also want to make sure that they have at least twelve frames before winter and can get some food stored so they don't starve.

Speaking of food, today was my first try at invert sugar.  Different forums have polar opposite views on the use of invert sugar.  Some forums even go as far as to say that it is toxic.  Others say that it is as good or better than feeding them honey.  From the different articles, what I can glean is this:  invert sugar syrup is good and probably even better than plain sugar syrup, but whatever you do, don't let it caramelize when you are making it.  It is at this point that it can become toxic.

You should really have a candy thermometer when you are making invert sugar syrup.  Some recipes call for it to come to a rolling boil for 20 minutes stirring constantly.  Other recipes call for it to cook to 248 degrees F.  I would probably stick with the recipe that said to take it to 235 degrees to be sure it doesn't caramelize.  But definitely stir constantly too so the mixture stays at a consistent temperature.

I don't have a candy thermometer so I brought the water to a boil, added the sugar and vinegar, and then brought it to a rolling boil while stirring constantly.  Then I turned it off.  The mixture probably didn't have time to react completely, but at least I didn't have any burned sugar in there to kill the bees.

The #8 screen I added to the bottom of the hive seems to be working well.  There were a lot of bees under the hive, and I bet many of them were interlopers hoping for another helping of my bees' sugar syrup.  There wasn't any fighting going on at the entrance either, so I am breathing a tentative sigh of relief.

I have a confession to make

I think I made a huge mistake when I built my top bar hive.  I was doing some reading today on Mike Bush's site and started thinking about when I put my hive together.  One of the features of the design that I used was the screened bottom board.  I was taking a beekeeping course at the time and we spent some time discussing the varroa mite problems.  When I read that people were having luck with screened bottom boards as an integrated pest management solution, I was excited to find a design that incorporated it.

The design that I used was David Bench's (http://www.wasatchbeekeepers.com/top-bar-hive-plans-david-bench/).  It is very detailed and easy to read and specifies the use of #8 hardware cloth for the bottom screen.  I read it several times and made my materials list.  Somehow when I came back from the hardware store, I had #4 hardware cloth and that is what went onto my hive.

For those of you who have used hardware cloth to restrict bee movement, you are probably saying a collective "Oh no" to yourselves.  Yes, when I came to the same realization today, I said the same thing.  For those of you who don't know, some worker bees may even make it through #7 hardware cloth if there are a couple loose wires.  #4 hardware cloth will keep out mice, but is an open door for bees.  I have a restricted front opening, but the entire bottom of the hive was basically wide open.

Now italian bees are known for robbing in the first place, but I have been feeding my bees like crazy--both the swarm side and the package side (before the package side absconded).  What do you think foreign bees were doing with the bottom of the hive wide open.  Could this have been a factor in my package bees absconding?  Well you learn from your mistakes, so I must be getting pretty smart.

The bees that were out foraging have to figure out where the front door is.  Notice the bee with its pollen basket full.  There was another one flying around with a pollen ball as big as its abdomen.

This little girl crawled out when I lifted a top bar to check the feeder.  It stood over the crevice between two top bars and kept fanning.  These top bars are upside down sitting on the cut down Langstroth frames that I first received.

Moved the partially drawn out comb

I moved the comb left behind by the package bees over to the colony from the swarm.  I'm feeding them every day too, so they should be able to finish drawing it out pretty well.  It's also been moderate for this time of year so that shouldn't stop them either.  There are at least six frames full of bees so it looks like they are still doing well.  Next weekend I'll do a hive inspection to see how things are going.  Hopefully, no more awful surprises this year.

Missing--a queen and her 10,000 workers

Yes, the bees from the package decided they did not like the neighborhood and moved away.  I checked the bushes and trees and they were nowhere to be found.  They left behind partially drawn comb on three bars.

I'm thinking that if I get another package, I'll put some already drawn comb in there so the queen has a place to start laying right away.  At least I still have bees on the other side of the hive.  I'm going to move the comb over to that side to give them a boost.

The first colony took the hint

I checked the swarm side of the hive and they have started building comb on the bar between the two Langstroth frames that I cut down.  Way to go!  Now we'll have to see which side builds it out faster.  Truthfully, the package side has the advantage since there are more bees on that side and they are not raising brood yet, so they can focus all their attention on building comb.

The package side has been going through 16 oz. of sugar syrup in a day, which is not surprising since they are trying to build out all that comb.  I'll just have to check it every day because my feeder only holds 16 oz.  The feeder is sitting inside the hive, so it can't be too big.  A quart mason jar would probably work, too.  That's something I will have to check on later.

These bees got curious when I lifted the top bar and got left outside when I put it back. Hopefully they remember where the front door is.

My bee package is making comb!

Today I took out the can of syrup that came with the package.  I picked up a cheap hummingbird feeder from the store after I found one where I could remove the feeding ports.  Now it is just an upside down jar with a sloped pool at the bottom.  I dissolved some granulated sugar in an equal amount of boiling water and then filled the feeder.  The can of syrup was still pretty heavy, but the syrup was coming out when I picked it up.  So, I know the holes weren't clogged or anything.

There were a lot of dead bees in the package when I installed it.  The bees haven't quite gotten around to giving their comrades the proper send off.  But, that is probably because they are busy building--wait for it--COMB!  I peaked under the bars near and on the edge of the cluster and didn't see anything, except for a lot of bees.  Then, I finally picked up the bar right over the middle of the cluster and I saw the beautiful yellow comb peaking through between the bees.  It was at least an inch or two long, but that's all the farther I lifted the bar.  I didn't want to disturb their work when I knew they were concentrating.

Now, I just need to keep them fed and let them do their thing.  Hopefully, the bees on the swarm side get in the spirit of competition and decide that they really need to start building too.  They may have already built some.  I'll check this weekend when it isn't so rainy.